our unworthy selves created them. From where, therefore,
does our best stuff come?
It's on this point, however, the cause of Inspiration,
that we see things differently. In Book One Steve traces
Resistance down its evolutionary roots to the genes. I
agree. The cause is genetic. That negative force, that dark
antagonism to creativity, is embedded deep in our humanity.
But in Book Three he shifts gears and looks for the cause of
Inspiration not in human nature, but on a "higher realm."
Then with a poetic fire he lays out his belief in muses and
angels. The ultimate source of creativity, he argues, is
divine. Many, perhaps most readers, will find Book Three
profoundly moving.
I, on the other hand, believe that the source of creativity is
found on the same plane of reality as Resistance. It, too, is
genetic. It's called talent: the innate power to discover the
hidden connection between two things—images, ideas,
words—that no one else has ever seen before, link them, and
create for the world a third, utterly unique work. Like our
IQ, talent is a gift from our ancestors. If we're lucky, we
inherit it. In the fortunate talented few, the dark dimension
of their natures will first resist the labor that creativity
demands, but once they commit to the task, their talented
side stirs to action and rewards them with astonishing
feats. These flashes of creative genius seem to arrive
from out of the blue for the obvious reason: They